Solar Power Recharges

Circuit Automatically
The circuit is virtually mainte-
nance-free because of the fact it is
powered by a rechargeable battery.
That battery is refreshed by a solar
panel. This is shown in Figure 1. The
circuit uses an average of only 30 to
50 mA because its operated in a
short pulse mode and just fires
roughly twice per second. Therefore,
you may use any combination of
panels which can keep your battery
fully charged. We used a pair of dis-
carded Walklight solar panels and a
deep-cycle marine battery which
was also thrown away. The marine
battery had only a fraction of its orig-
inal capacity, yet it performed ade-
quately with the circuit, and required
only one days trickle charge over the
summer because of an extended
period of cloudy weather.
Batteries and Charging
Locate your panels in a spot
where they are sure to receive the
maximum amount of sunlight. In the
summertime and early fall before
frost, when you will be most likely to
operate the circuit, the sun will be
closest to its zenith. Thats the spot
when its located as near to directly
overhead.
Position the solar cells accord-
ingly. Watch for shadows from trees,
buildings, etc., as these will cut the
power dramatically. (I found a small
shadow on a building-sized solar
power installation we once did for a
fellow cut his power over half!)
Due to the small current needed
to recharge the battery, the panels
can be located at a distance, and the
wire buried, if needed, for cosmetic
reasons. Wire chosen for such a use
should be rated for underground bur-
ial, yet you can use a common cable
such as Romex if you dont mind
replacing it every few years because
it will eventually rot.
Batteries will last for four or five
years or more, if you take care of
them. If you need to purchase a bat-
tery, a small garden tractor battery
will work fine. You can find these on
sale for about $25.00 However, a
used auto battery, which are always
thrown out by your local garage, can
be had for free or for a couple of dol-
lars. Check its voltage first with your
DMM. It should not be below 11.5
volts. If it is, its likely worthless. A
fully charged 12-volt lead-acid bat-
tery will run 13.8 volts while its being
trickle-charged, and will read about
12.5-12.9 volts without a charge
going in it.
Such batteries should never rise
above 14.0-14.4 volts or the elec-
trolyte will boil off, ruining the battery.
So your solar array should be con-
servative; a good ballpark figure
would be 100-150 mA for a full-sized
auto battery and less for a smaller
one. Use ingenuity here and check
the battery periodically with your
DMM. If the voltage falls, recharge
the battery or turn off the circuit to
allow the solar cells to do that job for
you until its voltage rises. The battery
will last much longer that way.
Another precaution is: our bat-
terys manufacturer (Delco) indicates
that the battery must be recharged if
not used for more than 90 days, and
must be recharged when the tem-
perature is at least 60 F. (15.5 C.), so
presumably such maintenance
applies to all lead-acid batteries to
keep them in top shape.
Keep your battery off a cement
floor. Put it on wood or fiberglass.
Surprisingly, a lead-acid battery will
die rather quickly if kept on a cold
floor. I believe its since the elec-
trolyte settles and causes solids to
accumulate between the plates, thus
causing eventual shorting and
destruction of the delicate lead
plates within.
How High Voltage
is Generated
Figure 2 shows the circuit. T1 is
called an AUTOTRANSFORMER
not because its used in cars, but
because of the winding pattern.
When the switching transistor Q1,
connects the common winding of T1
to ground, T1s large inductance
stores energy in the primary and the
Reprinted from October 1996 Nuts & Volts Magazine. All rights reserved. No duplication permitted without permission from T & L Publications, Inc. 1
b by Anthon y Anthony Charlton y Charlton
Construct
A Solar-Powered
Varmint Zapper
M
any people enjoy gardening as a hobby. The relax-
ation of moderate exercise, health benefits, and
monetary savings make all forms of gardening pur-
suits worthwhile. Of course, there are many people who
do gardening as a living, too.
If theres one thing we gardeners all have in common,
its the fact we have to contend with various parasites,
plant diseases, and critters that wish to ruin our garden-
ing work. In this article, well explore a very efficient solu-
tion to repel the macro-pests of your garden. Ranging
from raccoons to deer, the electrical circuit following will
harmlessly but effectively deliver an unwelcome
message to destructive animals, whether it be the neigh-
bors dog, or hungry deer waiting to lunch on your efforts
at their four-footed leisure.
FIGURE 1
iron core laminations as a magnetic
field. When the transistor turns off,
the magnetic field has no current to
sustain itself, and it nearly instantly
collapses. The collapsing magnetic
field produces a series of oscillations
called a decaying ringing waveform
that develops a high induced voltage
in the secondary. Thus, T1 acts more
like an inductor than a transformer
but, of course, combines the charac-
teristics of both.
T1s HV output is available at
two locations. First is the thick green
wire. Second is the laminated iron
core itself. One does not usually use
the core as an output, however. You
can get shocked, although not dan-
gerously. Insulate the core with sili-
cone RTV if it may be exposed to
moisture or if a shock potential both-
ers you. Reverse the primary
windings if the circuit doesnt
produce enough HV.
Unique PWM Circuit
The PWM (Pulse Width
Modulated) circuit uses a fixed
frequency oscillator consisting
of one gate of a 74C14N (or
CD4584 is a good substitute)
hex inverting Schmitt Trigger
integrated circuit. Its frequency
is normally determined by the
values of R1 and C1, and as
shown in Figure 2, output is
about two squarewave pulses
per second. The signal goes
into one of IC2s trigger inputs.
IC2 is a monostable multivi-
brator, and produces a brief
negative pulse equal to 2.48 R
* C where R is in megohms
and C in microfarads. With the
values shown, determined by
R3 and C2, the pulse width is a
narrow 2.5 milliseconds.
Protection diodes D1 and D2
are used at IC2s input to pre-
vent it from being destroyed by
stray HV. Use the 1N4148
diodes shown because they
operate so quickly; just in a few
nanoseconds of switching
time.
The negative output from the
NOT Q pin of IC2 is a 2.5 mS
pulse, and is inverted by the
remaining five paralleled gates
of IC1. This creates a positive
pulse of 2.5 mS which has its
current amplified by the addi-
tional gates. That makes sure
the transistor turns on com-
pletely. Q1 is a Darlington tran-
sistor which can switch highly
inductive loads without failure
because of its intrinsic protection
diode and the fact it has an extraor-
dinarily high breakdown voltage of
800 volts. Q1 is available from such
vendors as Mouser Electronics.
Substitutions are not recommended
for Q1.
A feature has been added to
show the circuit is operating. An LED
is connected to the Q output of IC2
through a current limiting
resistor. This output produces
a very narrow pulse whose
on time is 2.5 milliseconds,
like a mirror image of the
NOT Q output. Whenever the
Q output goes high, the LED
is flashed on. Use an ultra-
bright LED so you can see it
clearly in the daytime.
Weeds will reduce the
effectiveness of any fence
charger. Too many of them
will render any charger com-
pletely ineffective. To help
eliminate a light growth of
weeds touching the fence
wire, the high voltage pulse
rate may be greatly sped up
by pressing S2. This will inject
approximately 30 pulses per
second into your fences wire,
thus shocking weeds with a
strong dose of electricity
which will cause them to with-
er in a day or two. Note S2 is
wired to connect up a rela-
Reprinted from October 1996 Nuts & Volts Magazine. All rights reserved. No duplication permitted without permission from T & L Publications, Inc. 2
Parts Placement Diagram
Foil Side
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 3
tively small value resistor, R2,
across R1. This speeds up the rate
of the oscillator and thus the switch-
ing rate of T1. Hold the button down
for 10 to 20 seconds whenever nec-
essary. Allow a minute or two to pass
between the weed burn mode to
allow Q1 to cool off. Of course, if the
weeds are too thick youll have to cut
them manually. Watch out nobody
comes into contact with your fence
when using this feature or they will
receive a strong shock.
Installing The
Fence Charger
We are combining very high and
very low voltages, plus CMOS ICs
with this circuit. To help fabricate the
circuit, a life-size PC board pattern is
provided in Figure 3 and a parts
placement guide in Figure 4. A good
earth ground or service (house)
ground is required to prevent static
build-up and the malfunction or
destruction of the ICs. Actually, we
found the CMOS chips worked much
better than TTL types, since their
noise immunity is higher, typically
being 0.45 times the supply voltage.
TTL chips, such as 555 timer based
oscillators, caused a great deal of
trouble with T1 breaking into self-
sustaining and unwanted oscilla-
tions. Plus they cant operate at 12
volt levels of voltage.
To hook up the project, a length
of spark plug wire or high-voltage
wire is good to connect the project to
your fence. NOTE: Dont use a plug
wire with a graphite core because of
its high resistance. The wire must
have a metal wire core and be of low
resistance.
To insure effective zapping of
varmints, an adequate return path
must be established in the earth. Our
garden has a perennially moist
nature, so it is okay to just use a long
steel fence post for the return path.
You may have to improvise if your
soil is dry. Conductive material like a
long copper wire buried in the soil, or
a stretch of 1/2 hole galvanized
hardware cloth (a heavy-duty wire
woven in a fly-screen pattern), will
establish a ground in dry soil. The
drier your soil, however, the larger
the return ground you will need. This
is so the current can get through the
varmints fur effectively.
Shock Wire Placement
Wires at different heights must
be utilized to protect your garden.
Pests such as rabbits or raccoons
require two or more strands spaced
at 3 and 8 above the ground. Be
sure the animal cant get under the
wire, or theyll get to your garden.
Deer need a strand at about 2 feet
and at 3 to 3.5 feet, so they wont
step over or lean into your garden.
Use common sense with your local
varmint. This project will effectively
electrify about 2,000 total feet of
fence. Rocks too, will cut the power
to the fence. Dig them out or use
improvised PVC piping to insulate
the wires from touching the rocks,
especially if they get wet a lot.
Conclusion
Whatever your varmint, use your
ingenuity and try and think like the
animal in order to best install your
solar-powered fence charger. Use it
with respect, and you will enjoy
unmolested garden delights from
here on in! You also will find the
same pest wont return after it gets
zapped a time or two! NV
Note to readers Anthony
Charlton, the author of this article
and also The Laser Experimenter
column, passed away on
September 22nd.
Reprinted from October 1996 Nuts & Volts Magazine. All rights reserved. No duplication permitted without permission from T & L Publications, Inc. 3
P
P
ar
ar
ts
ts
List
List
R1 - 33,000 ohms
R2 - 2,000 ohms
R3 - 10,000 ohms
R4 - 330 ohms
R5 - 390 ohms
IC1 - #MM74C14-ND Hex CMOS
Schmitt Trigger
IC2 - #CD4047BE-ND Monostable
multivibrator
Q1 - MJE5472 transistor, or
similar
LED1- Superbright LED of any
color
C1 - 10 uF aluminum electrolytic
capacitor
C2 - 0.1 uF Mylar or polyester
capacitor
C3 - 0.033 uF ceramic disc
capacitor
C4 - 2,200 uF aluminum elec-
trolytic capacitor
C5 - 0.1 uF ceramic disc capacitor
T1 - 8 KV Autotransformer (see
note below)
Misc: Two 14-pin IC sockets, solar
panels as depicted in text, 12-volt
battery, fencing wire and associat-
ed sundries, SPST switch, option-
al HV capacitors
NO NOTES TES
Parts prefixed with a pound sign (#)
are Digi-Key part numbers
The special 8,000 VAC autotrans-
former (T1) is available from:
Images Company
P.O. Box 140742
Staten Island, NY 10314
Ph: (718) 698-8305
FAX: (718) 982-6145
Price is $27.45 postpaid. Includes
data.
You may add the two optional 10
KV, 1,000 pF capacitors to the cir-
cuit, shown in Figure 2, to increase
its shock power. They are also avail-
able from Images Company.